Investors appeared to breathe a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday after the price of crude oil retreated from a high of $130.47 (U.S.) a barrel, putting at rest – for the time being, at least – another unsettling spike into unfamiliar turf.
Oil traded at $129.17 a barrel soon after stock markets opened, up 19 cents. Gold, which has moved up aggressively in recent days, rose just 98 cents, to $920.23 an ounce.
The commodity-heavy S&P/TSX composite index rose 18 points in early trading, to 15,065, with no clear leadership from energy stocks. Talisman Energy Inc. rose 1.2 per cent, but Suncor Energy Inc. slipped 1.2 per cent. Meanwhile, BCE Inc., whose upcoming takeover by private equity groups is being closely watched by investors, rose 1 per cent, to $37.76 – $4.99 below the agreed-upon takeover price of $42.75 a share.
In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 6 points, to 12,834, a day after 90 per cent of the stocks in the 30-member index fell on concerns about rising oil prices. Citigroup Inc. fell 0.3 per cent and General Electric Co. fell 0.5 per cent. American International Group Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc. each rose 0.7 per cent. Exxon Mobil Corp., one of the few winners on Tuesday, rose 0.3 per cent.
The broader S&P 500 rose 4 points, to 1417. Oracle Corp. rose 1.9 per cent and Medtronic Inc. rose 2.8 per cent. Time Warner Inc., which announced plans to separate its Time Warner Cable Inc. division in return for a $9.25-billion dividend, rose 1.9 per cent.
